National Treasury has launched the MzansiXchange pilot, the data exchange pillar of South Africa’s Roadmap for the Digital Transformation of Government, which was officially launched in May 2025.

The roadmap outlines four pillars, namely data exchange, digital identity, digital payments and digital services, collectively providing a single digital entry point for accessing government services.

Supporting the broader MyMzansi initiative, the one-year pilot will test the MzansiXchange in real-world conditions, strengthening the foundations for a broader national rollout.

It will connect digital identity, payments and services, said National Treasury director-general Dr Duncan Pieterse.

This will help streamline administrative processes, thereby improving service delivery and reducing delays, and enable government institutions to securely access relevant, verified information already held by other departments, which reduces duplication and making it easier for citizens, who will not have to repeatedly provide the same details when accessing services.

It will also support greater efficiency and cost savings by eliminating redundant systems and enabling faster fraud detection and empower policymakers by making timely data available to inform planning and decision-making.

While data is the backbone of digital transformation and inclusive service delivery, similar to road, electricity and water infrastructure development, South Africa’s government data landscape has been characterised by fragmentation, siloed systems and limited interoperability.

“These challenges have constrained our ability to make evidence-based decisions, deliver integrated services, allocate resources efficiently and build public trust in government systems. MzansiXchange addresses these gaps by enabling secure, structured and coordinated data sharing across government,” he said.

The launch of the MzansiXchange pilot, building on the National Treasury Secure Data Facility and Spatial Economic Activity Data South Africa, followed the completion of the due diligence and design phase in 2024, which focused on finding the best technical architecture; prototyping secure data access systems; assessing the legal and governance landscapes; and engaging stakeholders across government.

The design phase has informed the pilot’s scope and design.

While MzansiXchange is not a central data repository and does not store any data, it does act as a secure bridge – a structured and governed exchange that allows departments to retain ownership of their data while sharing their data with other authorised entities, when needed.

This approach balances departmental data sovereignty with secure, cross-government data sharing through a structured and governed framework.

“Our prototype has been built with X-road as the foundational technology for the MzansiXchange, supporting flexible mechanisms and enhancing resilience with robust design, ensuring standards harmonisation, digital inclusion and long-term sustainability.”

MzansiXchange will have governance frameworks, standardised data protocols and will set clear expectations for metadata standards, data quality and interoperability.

It will provide standardised legal instruments, such as memoranda of understanding or service level agreements, to guide secure and compliant data sharing.

MzansiXchange will provide four distinct data access components, each designed to meet the needs of different users.

The first pillar is data sharing for regulation, compliance and verification, which provides authorised public entities with real-time access to identifiable data for verification and compliance purposes.

Pieterse cited an example of the data exchange only being used to securely verify key information when enrolling citizens into public programmes or grants.

The second pillar is data sharing for evidence-based policy, planning and research, enabling bulk sharing and integration of de-identified data from government institutions to a secure data facility.

For example, de-identified administrative data, such as education outcomes, tax records or social protection information, can be securely shared with a secure data facility. This enables researchers and policymakers to generate insights that support more targeted, evidence-based decision-making and planning.

The third pillar is data sharing for operational analytics.

This facilitates bulk transfers of both de-identified and identifiable data between public sector institutions to support service delivery and the fulfilment of operational mandates, he said, citing an example of MzansiXchange supporting the bulk sharing of financial and procurement data between public sector institutions, helping improve coordination and strengthening planning and oversight.

The last pillar is open access data sharing, which enables users to explore data catalogues, dashboards, data stories, download aggregated datasets and view metadata through secure protocols, such as the spatialised tax data housed within the National Treasury Secure Data Facility, local data and other insights.

“It has been a joint journey to this point – one built on collaboration, commitment and shared purpose – and I would like to thank the Presidency and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, our colead departments in the implementation of the digital transformation roadmap,” Pieterse said.

The departments that have supported the MzansiXchange and will be participating in the pilot include the departments of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; Home Affairs; Basic Education; and Higher Education and Training, as well as the Presidency and the Digital Services Unit; the South African Revenue Service; the South African Social Security Agency; the National Student Financial Aid Scheme; the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; the South African Reserve Bank and Statistics South Africa.